Happy Friday! As this week comes to a close, I thought it the perfect time to sit back and contemplate how far we've come, especially as the last couple of days have been quite hectic at work.

Practicing my gouache rendering every day for the past 2 weeks has really paid off, and I'm starting to learn the tips and tricks to really make the designs pop off the page. There are still some things that elude me - particularly the way the light hits and reflects back from the different gemstones - but this is something I'll figure out over time as I work with more and more precious gemstones.

My current obsession are these opal jewellery renderings that I completed last week, especially the ones with the Lightning Ridge black opal from Australia. We purchased these from one of our gemstone suppliers, Chris Price, and the blue and green fire in these opals are absolutely stunning. The way it diffracts the light and lends almost a luminescent glow... can you believe this is purely from Mother Nature herself?

It seems to be a growing trend now for me... a long weekend means another impulsive and last-minuted planned trip to another part of Southeast Asia that I hadn't explored yet. This time around, we were off to Hanoi for 4 days!

If there was one place where Paris meets Chinatown in the chaotically organised way possible, this was it. The colonial European architecture of the buildings with its terraced patios and trellis-walled foliage set the scene, only to be filled with bowls of pho, crazy traffic that only Asians are able to achieve, and humidity out the wazoo.

Culturally, Hanoi has been greatly influenced by the French, evident, not only in their food and architecture, but also in design and crafts. During my trip, my eyes caught sight of some beautifully designed bags that uses reclaimed fabrics with patterns that are uniquely Vietnamese, developed by Valerie Cordier. Tribal seems to be the growing fashion trend now, and her bags are the epitome of that - original and bold, with plenty of spunk and story to tell!

I haven't quite figured out if they're available online yet, but I found her bags in the Tan My Design Cafe in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, and I know she also has them in boutique stores in Paris and Melbourne if you just so (luckily) happened to be living in those cities!

Upholding a largely unappreciated heritage is a passion also shared by Myriad (1A Au Co, Tay Ho, Hanoi), a fashion, home & lifestyle brand, that we stumbled upon quite by accident! They just opened their loft studio less than a month ago. Everything - the website, the unpacking, order management - is still in-progress, but for now though, if you're in Hanoi, check out their space... it is such a social, casual environment, that it feels less like shopping and more akin to going to a friend's house for a little tete-a-tete (although technically, it is their house since they live upstairs!)

"In Myriad, we collect moments, not things." As I watch their 2 precious puppies and bumbling bulldog wander around their studio, I could not agree more.

We bounced back and forth between the two extremes; from brunch at the chic Sofitel-Legend Hotel Metropole Hanoi (where we were greeted with a demure "bonjour!") to Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk at a road-and-lakeside stall, from browsing a made-to-order French perfumery, to walking the grounds of the Temple of Literature.

Another random evening out and about in the city of Bangkok at the chic, speakeasy-esque Maggie Choo's in Silom.

Its unique 1930's Shanghainese decor, complete with cheongsam-clad, fan-fluttering models posing on swings, and great live music, makes it the perfect place for Ladies Night... though as the evening went on, our group expanded exponentially as friends and friends-of-friends joined in. How we all managed to fit in the intimate, separated vault-turn-lounge room is beyond me!

Being able to work for such a global company is an opportunity that I'm very grateful for, especially in that it hasn't forced me to suppress my desire to constantly explore and travel. In fact, with John Hardy, I am encouraged to be inspired by new surroundings everyday. My business trips to Bali enable me to use the weekends to plan a get-together with friends for a mini-vacation, and this time around, we decided to go to Gili Air, a small island off the east coast of Bali, as none of us had been before. Gili Air is one of 3 islands that are car and motor free - the only way to get to the island is via boat, and around the island, by foot, bike or horse-drawn cart.

Last minute planning and booking ensued, and we embarked early on Saturday morning to Padang Bai to catch the highspeed boat. Amidst miscommunication, delays, confusion and general hullaballoo, we ended up actually missing our 9am boat ride to Gili, and were told the next one would be at 1pm. Disappointed and cranky, we marched over to the head office of the boat company we booked with to file a general complaint on lack of organisation and to our surprise, received a free brunch at a chic beach-side cafe as compensation.

Upon arrival at Gili Air, we encountered some gorgeous sailboats... and vowed that one day, somehow, we would also be on one too! And oh mamma mia, the stars that night were unbelievable. Stargazing on a sailboat out in the middle of the sea? Yes, please!

After a refreshing swim in the sea, we found out that 2 of our colleagues from John Hardy had also decided to come to Gili Air as well and since the island was so small, we bumped into them in no time. It was lovely to be able to enjoy the company of friends, toes in the sand, watching the gorgeous sunset ... definitely good times to be had by all!

The design team was given the amazing opportunity to organise a weekend trip to explore the east and west coast of Bali, areas that have not been overpopulated with tourists and that still maintain a large part of its heritage and culture relatively intact.

We jam-packed as many places to go, things to see (and most importantly, food to eat!) as we could in the span of 3 days. Needless to say, we were completely exhausted by the end of the trip, but it was an experience that we would not trade for anything... except maybe to go back again!

I realise that all of my current posts so far have been of everywhere but Bangkok! Perhaps it's time I upload something every once in a blue moon of what goes on here... ergo, the random postings of random things being out and about in the city of Bangkok.

Yes, cue the Murray Head song!

One Night in Bangkok June 2014 - Surprise birthday dinner for Bernie (who unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it - lost her voice) at the Blue Elephant Restaurant

Having one whole week off from work mid-April was the perfect time for me to embark on a crazy jetsetting adventure of meeting up with friends scattered all across Europe. It was simple, really - buy a return flight from Bangkok to London, and then use the high-speed train to get to the different cities on my list. My insane itinerary went something along the lines of:

Words and pictures alone cannot describe how amazing this trip was... and how utterly knackered I was once I touched back down in Bangkok on Monday morning at 6am, only to have to trudge my zombie butt to work directly after!

I couldn't help but smile as I put together this little roadmovie... I am really fortunate to have such beautiful, glorious friends - my Jayarezee, Bino, Oli & Keun Woo - thank you so much for hosting me, whether it was just for a 2-hour lunch in Paris, or a night at the house of the Elliot's, ochre boots and all !